Car-coupling



(No Model.)

T. GASKINS.

GAB. COUPLING.

No. 536,139. Y Patented Mar. 19, 1895.

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UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFIJC'E.

THOMAS GASKINS, OF ARCADIA, FLORIDA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 536,139, dated March19, 18 95. Application filed April 21. 1894. Serial 110.508.423-camera.)

My invention relates to that 'form of car coupling popularly known asthe Janney type, in which the draw head is provided upon one side withan articulated knuckle adapted to couple with a similar knuckle on theother draw head, which knuckles are provided with means for locking themrigidly in their coupled position, or allowing them to be turnedoutwardly to be disengaged from each other. 7 My invention consistschiefly in the means for so locking these knuckles that they may befreely and easily disengaged while the parts are under the influence ofthe draft strain, so. that there is no necessity for slackening orbacking the train to uncouple.

Figure 1 is ahorizonta'l sectionthrough the draw head showing thecoupled position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the uncoupledposition. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the line 3-3 ofFig. 2 and Fig.

4 is a View showing the difierent means for lifting the pin to uucouple.

hingedupon a vertical'pin D, a coupling knuckle a a constructed as ashort elbow lever whose outer arm or forms the coupling hook, and whoseinner arm a" is at right anglesto the outer arm and is acted upon byThese locking devices con-j locking devices. sist of a horizontal leverb and a vertical pin C. The lever b is pivoted 'upon a-vertical pin bwhich is upon one side of the draw head one end of the lever 12 .onits'front side and immediately in front of itsaxis of' articulation is acurved seat b b in which the rounded end-of the knuckle arm 01, .plays,Working therein as an abutmentf In the opening movement of the knuckleits hook end a moves outwardly, and its inner arm 0. moves toward thecenter of the draw bar and bears against the side 1) of the seat inlever b, tending to throw the ire end of lever b 'rearwardly in thedraw-head, and in the closing movement of the knuckle its arm a, strikesthe side 17 of the seat in the lever b, and tends to throw its free endoutwardly or to the front.

When the cars are cou pled and the knuckle is in the position shown inFig. l a locking pin-O upon the opposite side of the drawhead isarranged to drop vertically through a hole in the draw-head, and passesbehind. the notched end of the lever b, preventing its free end frommoving to the rear from the pressure of the end of'the-arm or againstthe side 12 of the seat in lever b, which pressure is caused by thedraft strain on the outer or hooked part a of the knuckle, and so longas the pin 0 remains behind the free end of lever b the knuckle a a islocked in the coupled position. raised above range of engagement withthe arm I), the said arm may move to the rear, and the knuckle arm aandthe hook amove outwardly, to permit of the uncoupling of thethefrictional contact thereagainst is very light, and does not interferewith the free and easy lifting of the pin 0 to uncouple, even when thefulldraft strain is on. The pin G, is made square at its upper part,itscross section being indicated at l, 2, 3, 4:, in Fig.1, and the hole inthe upper part of the draw bar is made to correspond. 'The' lower end ofthe pin is, however, only about half the size, be-

When, however, the pin 0 is.

ing cut awayon one side, so that'its cross seetion is only that shown at1, 5, 6, 4, and the hole in the lower part of the draw bar is made tocorrespond. There is therefore left onth e endiof lever b allows thelatter to move back in coupling, and when dropped below the plane oflever 1) looks this lever from going back, and holds the coupling lockedin its closed position.

On the back side of arm ct of the knuckle there is formed a shoulder awhich,when the car coupling is closed, locks into and bears against asimilar shoulder (Z formed on the inner side of the draw-head. When twodrawheads come together forcibly the strain is partly taken from a. ofthe knuckle by means of the shoulders at and (L The knuckle a a of thedraw bar is formed around its axis with the customary stop shoulders rthat engage with similar stop shoulders t on the draw-head to limit therange of oscillation of the knuckle. also formed around its axial holewith a cylindrical boss I) at the top and bottom which play withincorresponding recesses in the draw-head and distribute the wear andstrain, and thus relieve the axial pin Z). The knuckle a. a is alsoprovided with similar bosses. for the same purpose. To permit the leverb to be inserted in the mouth of the draw bar, curved recesses orchannels h at top and bottom of the throat are formed in the walls ofthe draw bar to give passage to the bosses b in inserting or removingthe lever b.

In setting the devices for automatic coupling, the parts are put in theposition shown in Figs. 2 and 3 with the shoulder s of pin 0 restingupon the end of lever 12. Now when the cars come together, the knucklesare closed by the impact, audthe rear end of arm a striking against theside 1) of the seat in lever b, throws its free end to the front frombeneath the shoulder sof the pin C and allows the latter to pass behindthe lever b which is immediately locked thereby, and in turn locks thelong arm a of the knuckle.

To uncouple the cars this is easily effected even when the draft strainis on, because there is but little frictional resistance on account ofthe reduction of leverage by the arrangement of theparts described.Thelifting The lever Z) is of the pin may be effected either from thetop, front, or side of the car, by the devices shown in Fig. 4, in which11 is a double crank shaft, connected to the pin by a chain, or otherineans which crank shaft is worked from the top of a car through rod Rand lever M, or from the side of the car through rod K and lever L. Whenworked on a passenger car lever M may or may not rise above the level ofthe platform.

I am aware that this type of car coupling, comprising a jointed knuckle,a locking cam for the knuckle, and a retaining dog for the locking cam,is old, and I therefore only claim my peculiar construction andarrangement of the parts, in which a leading feature is the transverselever b pivoted upon one side of the draw-head immediately behind theaxis of the knuckle and extending across the draw-head to its oppositeside to co-operate with the pin 0. This, it will be seen, pro vides sucha relation of leverage in the parts as to render the uncoupling of thecars practicable while the draft strain is on.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with the draw-head and its hinged knuckle; of thelocking lever Z) having seat b for the rear arm of the knuckle, and avertically adjustable locking pin 0 made larger at its upper end than atits lower end, and having a shoulders adapted to rest upon the free endof lever l) or drop behind it substantiallyas and for the purposedescribed.

2. The combination with thecoupling knuckle, and the draw-head havingchannels h h in the top and bottom walls of its throat; of the lockinglever 11 having bosses 1) around its axial hole anda detachable axialpin 11' substantially as and for the purpose described.

THOMAS GASKINS.

\Vitnesses:

WILLIAM E. DANIEL, JOHN Onoss.

